Keep Your Home Warm this Winter

With Thanksgiving only a couple of weeks away and Christmas soon to follow, so too will Winter continue to make its way into North Carolina. Homeowners are already starting to wonder what are the best and most affordable ways to keep the house warm. Getting cold outside is inevitable, however, there are ways that you can do to ensure the inside of your home stays warm.

Here are few of the best ways to keep your house warm and keep your utility bills down this winter in NC:

Install a Programmable Thermostat

If you haven’t installed a programmable thermostat yet, this is the right time to do it! Programmable or WIFI Thermostats can help keep your energy bill low. Instead of having to manually adjust your thermostat every time you leave the house, come back home, or go to sleep, you leave everything to your programmable thermostat.

Program your thermostat to anything between 60 and 68 degrees if your house is empty during the day. You can make it 55 degrees if you are away on a holiday vacation. During the night, adjust the temperature accordingly to what is comfortable for you.

Maximize Your Insulation

Typically, about 25% heat is lost through the roof, in comparison to 35% through the walls, 15% through the floor and 25% from windows and drafts. The cost of insulating the roof is usually much lower than the cost of solid wall insulation, so it is often more cost-effective to do the roof first. This is the first thing that you need to deal with if you are looking for ways of how to keep your house warm in winter. Consider installing 25cm insulation throughout your loft.

Also pay close attention to your walls. Although it might be a little bit expensive to install wall insulation, it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

The best thing to do is an audit of your homes energy usage to find out the best places heat is being lost and costing your utility bills to rise.

Close Your Curtains at Night

During the day, your house windows usually let in more radiant energy which helps to keep your interior spaces warm. The little sunlight can enter through the window glass, but it can’t escape since the window is quite opaque to the infrared radiation trying to get out of your house.

However, things might change at night since the window glass can get extremely cold hence absorbing heat from the surrounding air. Therefore, it is always good to ensure that you close your curtains to prevent the warm air from coming in contact with the cold window glass.

Leave the Oven Door Open

This may sound a bit offensive to may Southerners in North Carolina, but if you are doing any baking or cooking it is ok to leave your oven door open after you are finished using it.

The heat from the oven will flow into your kitchen and help warm it up.

However, just be cautious if you have children or pets running around as it can obviously give them a nasty burn if they were to get too close. The positives are that the warm air from the kitchen can be supplied to the other rooms making your home feel much warmer.

Move Furniture and Other Obstacles Away from Your Vents

This is one of the simplest tings you can do in order to make your heat run more efficient through your home. You may have unknowingly moved a table or sofa set in front of heating vents while rearranging your living room. Take time and go around your house double checking whether any vents are blocked.

If you discover that any of them have been blocked, this may be a problem. So, find a way of rearranging your furniture to unblock them. Keep in mind that blocking return vents could also lead to air pressure problems. This then further disrupts the flow of heat.

Upgrade Your Furnace

If your furnace is old and outdated, consider replacing it with a new and more energy-efficient HVAC model. Although installing a new furnace may be a bit costly, it will save you a lot of money in the long run. If your furnace is still in good condition, make sure that it is well-maintained and serviced by an experienced HVAC expert to serve you better.

Looking into these few tips may help you avoid higher energy bills in North Carolina this winter. If you need help in running and audit of your heat or need repairs or installations near Cary, Durham, Apex,  Raleigh or any of the surrounding areas don't hesitate to contact one of the experience technicians at Island Breeze HVAC.